Soren Kierkegaard said, “The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived.”

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Life is meant to be lived.”

These words “life is meant to be lived” are emphasized by two sides: a politician/first lady and a philosopher/theologian and yet both come to this common ground that life is to be lived.

Time is interpreted differently through the eyes of each person as is the meaning of life. The essence of life and hope are often stolen as we buy into this concept, “life is a race against time.” This idea has woven it’s way into our minds and robbed us allowing space for broken and forgotten dreams, false realities of what success is and disrupted relationships.

Each mama enters into the home with a history of past time, an idea of present time and future time either filled with wishful thinking or predetermined by the picture formed within themselves. The reality is most of us live this way. However, the idea of slowing down, remembering that life is meant to be lived and not just something to pass the time away is often hard to believe in.

Our desire for each mama is that for the duration of their time in ESTHER, they begin to set time down and pick up life! They remember the dreams and goals that had to be set on pause because of time or timing of life and begin to run after them again realizing that time is a factor but not the controlling factor of their life. Time placed in it’s right context can create a beautiful work of art within the realm of a life lived when it is valued and not idolized. So here’s to taking back time and living a life meant to be lived.

Share

I can hardly believe that it has already been a year – 4 mamas, 3 new born babies, 2 toddlers and of course us! What a crazy experience it has been….we have learned so much from each mama, her story and journey as she moves forward. We have seen a part of who we are in each of them and it has brought out the good and ugly parts of us as we have been refined. It is a beautiful picture of honesty and vulnerability to sit with each mama as they let out exactly where they are at every time.

“If these walls could speak, there would be quite the stories: from stopped up toilets (which if you’re wondering- save your arms, forget plunging and just go straight to boiling water –fixes it every time), mice infestations and the sound of itsy bitsy spider again and again while attempting to coax a two-year-old into peeing in a big boy potty. You would hear the sound of forgotten laughter being broken back in and hear stories of the long cast away Hope being tried on. You’d hear of women all learning how to stand, how to lean in on one another, and how walls of fear fell down and crumbled when Love and mercy showed up. You’d hear of struggle, and tension, of exhaustion and how sometimes the bustle of life kept everyone so busy how even the home felt lonely. But then, mostly you’d hear of an endurance that was carried by Hope. A Hope that surprised, no matter the atmosphere or mood of the home. A Hope that was there when bad news was received, when fathers didn’t show up, or when the world seemed to gobble us up, chew us up and spit us out. A hope that left one mama saying, “How can you both just be so positive all the time?” Oh sweet mama, we have a Hope that never ever puts us to shame. That never leaves us alone. Hope was always there. It’s what kept us all going. This year I have learned so much about the power of Hope and the promises of God.” -Rachel Hanus

The truth is that no matter how bad it has seemed…..it has been crucial to not lose sight of hope. As we move forward in this journey we want our mamas to experience this hope, this peace, this love that surpasses all understanding, that heals pasts and restores futures. Pray with us, stand with us and partner with us as we move forward into another year!!

Share

Crisis. This is where it all began and what brought me to Tapestry. 8 months ago…my life looked very different than it does today. I was homeless, battling difficult relationships and struggling in every way possible – mentally, physically, emotionally and financially.

So when I discovered I was pregnant on top of all of that…I was overwhelmed. I could not wrap my head around how I was going to figure out how to provide for my baby, since I was already working multiple jobs just to take care of myself. I had no stability and very little in the way of a support system. I literally felt desperate.

When I was younger I lived on 44th and Chicago just down the road from Tapestry. When I thought I was pregnant I remembered the sign out front and went in for the free pregnancy test but I knew in my heart that I really needed so much more….food, clothing and most importantly, a place to live.

What I found…was Miss Jennifer. While you all might know her as the Crisis Care Coordinator at Tapestry… I’ve come to consider her someone like a mother figure. Because let me tell you, she showed up in every way possible for me. She understood my struggle and she dug deep to help me find solutions.

It started with creating space for me at Esther Homes, Tapestry’s partner housing program. This wasn’t just any housing program, it has been a REAL home with women who have become my BIG sisters, Amber and Rachel.

With a stable place to live, I’ve been able to focus on the important things in order to get my future situated. It’s been incredible having everything I need under one roof at Tapestry; my prenatal care, all of my education classes, and the support network with the staff and other mamas in the program.

The things I am learning about myself…about life in general…I wouldn’t have known about before Tapestry. Classes like the 5 Love languages and communications workshops…those classes have changed the way I approach everything now. I have learned healthy ways to deal with situations and others around me, and it’s changed my way of thinking. The personal empowerment and parenting classes have changed the way I see myself and my purpose as a woman.

I didn’t know how moving into Esther House in December would go and if it was the right decision to make and it was hard at first… but we became like a family and they helped me build a foundation for me and my daughter. I have grown as an individual, matured as a woman and I now stand firm in who I am, in what I value, and in my faith.

In 8 short months…this place has had a profound impact in my life.

I could stand here and tell you all about the amazing services they offer, because I assure you they are great, but that is not what makes ESTHER Homes and Tapestry so special. It’s the relationships they invite us into. It’s the community they’ve created. We now all have a place where we can just be US.

Somehow, they have figured out how to be both – an agency that helps…and a family that loves you unconditionally.

Today, I would describe this season of my life as GREAT and I would not have arrived here without Tapestry and Esther Homes being a part of this journey. In the next month I will give birth to my daughter, Harmony Dior A’Starr, I will transition out of ESTHER Home into the Jeremiah Program, where I will be returning to school to get my nursing degree. I am committed to doing whatever it takes to do well for myself and for my daughter.

This journey has been a season of growing, learning and transition. There have been struggles and downfalls, questions as to whether I would be facing all of this alone, and hardships in family relationships. It has not been easy, but I am proud of myself for not giving up or letting the struggles determine my daughter’s future or my own.

As I reflect back over the past year, I am so thankful to have this community in my corner. These women have offered encouragement and words of wisdom. They have helped me walk through every huge decision and continue to stand with me every step of the way. They have welcomed me into their home and into their lives. By the grace of God I found this little place called Tapestry, and within that little building I found anything and everything I could have needed or asked for during one of the lowest points in my life.

What started, as a crisis has become my biggest blessing: Today I am a mother and it has completely changed my life. Without my daughter, I never would have found the path I’m now on or this community of women who love and support me. Today I am confident in who I am and I know that I am prepared to be the mother my daughter needs. I’ve learned to allow each step to not only strengthen me, but bring me closer to God. I now know that I can do all things through Christ, and that I am NEVER ALONE.

Share

Friedrich Schiller says, “What’s old collapses, times change, and new life blossoms in the ruins.”

As I walking through downtown Minneapolis I was gently reminded that there is a beauty within the ruins. Ruins by definition is something that has become reduced from it’s original stature or is in decay. However, this is by world’s standards. I think of famous ruins like Pompeii or Rome that people will travel to view, to admire, to find a story within or the new found beauty in the silence of the ruins. Both of these I have walked through and in those moments found no value in broken stone or the history they carry but after seeing the parallel of life and ruins can truly appreciate the abstractness that has become their renewed beauty!

Our mamas come in with a mindset that their stories or their life is a pile of ruins and possess no meaning, beauty and that all hope was stripped out. Their time in the home is not about putting all the pieces back together to rebuild their original state, but rather looking at each crack, each hole or brokenness and seeing the new masterpiece that they have created and the beauty within the story and the ruins. It’s about reminding them the story is not over just because life has life altering events to this once put together structure of life.

Everyday is a new day to find the beauty, to change the perspective we have within our own lives ruins….to accept them and create a new masterpiece…a new story….a restored beauty in the silence of the ruins!

Share

As we stepped into this journey we are learning that there is more to serving and loving our mama’s than just making sure they have an education, a job and are on a path to getting their own place. While all of these are both crucial and a big part of the journey, we are learning there is a foundational component that is the heart of who we are and want to be! We are about the “doing” but we are very much about the “who” they are.

We want to be a place that is cultivating love,honor, and community. While they are taking the hard steps to move forward, we are taking the steps with them they can reflect upon, steps that cause an inward focus and restoration to the core of who they are: they are worth it, they are lovable and they have a lot to offer themselves, their children and family and this world! It is hard not to focus solely on the “doing” as those seem to be the needs that scream out the loudest and rather focus on the heart and go deep with each mama.

It’s about creating a space for fun, to rediscover things that made them happy, to rebirth the goals and dreams that once flooded their minds and allowing healing and restoration to take place within the trauma and crisis that have become a huge part of their story. Our desire is that their scope of lens they see the world and their circumstances through becomes one of resilience allowing themselves to stand up in anything they face during their time in ESTHER Homes, within their crisis and trauma and in the future!